Study Says White Families' Wealth Advantage Has Grown

[Rose Siding]

WASHINGTON, Oct. 17 (AP) - The enormous wealth gap between white families and black and Hispanic families grew larger after the most recent recession, a private analysis of government data has found.

White households had a median net worth of greater than $88,000 in 2002, 11 times that of Hispanic households and more than 14 times that of black households, the Pew Hispanic Center said in the study, being released Monday.

Blacks were slowest to emerge from the economic downturn that started in 2000 and ended early in 2001, the report found.

Net worth accounts for the value of items like a home and a car, checking and savings accounts, and stocks, minus debts like mortgage, car loans and credit card bills.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/18/national/18wealth.html?oref=login

[onehandle]

1. All Right! Being White ROCKS!

All kidding aside, to me it's surprising that Hispanic households are doing better than Black ones. Here in Atlanta, Hispanic poor seem to be much more worse off. It may be a regional thing.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

2. Which white families did they question?

[Cobalt Violet]

3. It must take an awful lot of poor white families to bring ....

The median white family income down to $88,000. There are so many multi-billionaires, billionaires, multi-millionairs, millionaires and high 6 figure income folks out there. I just wonder how many -$14,000 families it takes to bring the medium down to $88,000.

I don't know how many billions of dollars Gates has but I know it would take a lot of families earning -$14,000 a year to bring the average down to $88,000. And it doesnt make the -14,000 crowd any richer doing that.

[demon67]

5. High incomes have less impact on the median

This is not an average figure, it is a median. If it was an average, it would seemingly be much higher for the reason you sited.

[Cobalt Violet]

8. Well Hey what do I know...

With my Fine Art Painting degree.

I just see alot of poor people out there of all colors even white.

[Princess Turandot]

6. Median means that 50% of white families were above $88K..

and 50% of white families were below that net worth. It can vary quite a bit from an average.

[sonicx]

4. who cares

Chimp can speak 2 or 3 lines of spanish and has TWO black people in the white house. what more do them minorities need???

[Erika]

7. Yeah. I Saw the Token Black at W's rally

Falwell is now screaming for science according to his beliefs. The majority of urban dwellers are coughing at Falwell's same beliefs. You got to question when Falwell and Robertson's interest lies in the Afriican diaamond mines. May they lye in hell.

[DivinBreuvage]

9. I'm white, my husband is black, he makes more than me

but it certainly has nothing to do with the policies of this drunken fraud and his cabal; and in fact we've lost ground over the past four years, and if Bush gets another four I am seriously afraid of what is going to happen to us.

(And, yeah, my husband freaking HATES George W. Bush).

[daleo]

10. I guess this explains a CNN news item the other day

It was about how the spending power of blacks was "rising exponentially". The word must have been out to spread some disinformation on the topic before this report came out.

Of course, if the exponent is negative, spending can change exponentially, yet actually go down.

[BiggJawn]

11. I'm the wrong colour.

Using their criteria, my net worth is around $1200...That's $5000 less than the median Black family.

And last week they said that people who make 200 kilobucks are actually "Middle Class".
I'm a paradox. Po' whi' trash what doesn't LOVE "Earnhardt!!"

Well, I may not be trash, but the other 2 factors are dead-on....